I have a lot of the same thoughts towards this book that I did for the first book in the series. Just like the first book I had a hard time remembering and keeping straight the characters in the story. A lot of the people show up very quickly and then disappear, so when they come up again, I completely forget everything surrounding that character. Not knowing the characters and not caring or becoming attached to the characters made the ending lacking in the needed sock factor. The book also takes us on a lot of random leads that end up nowhere. This made it very hard to figure out what really mattered.in my opinion, it made the book boring and made it drag on because a lot of the book really doesn’t matter and is just them following random clues leading them down rabbit wholes that end in a dead-end.

First I want to answer the question some readers will have about whether this book series is worth a read or listen. Yes, it was worth it. . To be clear, I really like this series of books. The way the author move across continents adds an interesting dimension to the plot. I’m really glad I kept listening because the twists and resolution were good. This story was a little bit of a slow build and there were points in the story where I questioned the wisdom of the main character’s discussions concerning her personal life but I became invested in finding out how everything would resolve for the second book in this series. That said, the audio narration wasn’t great. It points the cadence of the narrator’s voice was annoying. I gave the book 4 stars mainly because I’m interested in seeing what happens next which Is a great sign in hooking the reader.

Now, answer the final question I think the potential reader may ask by describing what this book is about. What kind of story is this? I won’t rehash the book cover description of the plot here but I would like to set expectations about the heroine. This is a detective procedural with a family element and a nod at a romantic relationship Though how Maggie D’arcy’s work impacts her daughter and boyfriend is part of the story, it isn’t a major focus. She is determined to solve the mystery even while disrupting the lives of her loved ones. The story heavily focuses on unraveling the connections between a set of characters that exist in the periphery of the murder victim’s life. The intrigue builds and surprises you.

I had not read The Mountains Wild when I picked up this one and maybe I should have since there is definitely some drama that carries over to this one, but I still enjoyed it, especially because as I listened I was getting ready to travel to Ireland myself!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Long Island detective Maggie D'Arcy and her teenage daughter Lily are still grieving the death of Lily's father and Maggie's ex-husband recently. Maggie isn't sure where life will lead them next. She has fallen in love with an Irish man, Connor, but is it realistic to even think of a future this soon? Maggie has returned to work and while it is familiar which is soothing, the nature of being a homicide detective is grueling and unlikely to provide much positive reinforcement to offset her chaotic personal life.

Then the news comes in that a man has been shot and killed at a local marina. When Maggie and her partner Dave arrive there isn't much to go on. He has been shot execution style and his personal effects such as his wallet and phone are missing. There doesn't seem to be a car he was driving. They don't know how he is and identification is the first order of the day.

But the victim's identity makes the case more puzzling than not. The victim is an Irish man, apparently visiting the United States for some purpose. What is he doing here? Who did he come to meet? Is the case about him or was he the victim of random gang violence as Maggie's supervisors believe? When the bullet is matched to another gang shooting it seems clear but Maggie isn't sure. She was already slated to go to Ireland on vacation and it's agreed she will coordinate with the Irish police to see what else can be learned about the man.

Maggie learns a lot. The victim had several links in his past that could be related. He had been kidnapped in Afghanistan along with several other hostages and rescued in a murky operation that could have left issues behind. He had grown up as the son of an unmarried teenage mother which left its mark but more recently had discovered that he had an older brother in the Long Island area. Did he come to meet his brother? Did his past abduction leave issues? As the investigation progresses, it is clear that whoever the killer is, he has turned his attention on Maggie and her team. Can they solve the case before more tragedy strikes?

This is the second book in the Maggie D'Arcy series. The first investigated another case with Irish ties and it is unclear where the next book might go as the ending is left purposely vague as Maggie must make some decisions about her life going forward. Will she choose a new life in Ireland with the man she has come to love or will she stay in America and fight to keep her job and raise her daughter? This book is recommended for mystery lovers looking for a new series.

This was a great audio! I really enjoyed the first book in this series and this one is even better. I like that the main character is a strong female but also vulnerable at the same time. There were some accents in the audio and they were easy to understand.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this audiobook. I had to restart a few times as I had a challenging time following along. Then when I finally got it going, I wanted to DNF it, but I stuck it out. I wasn't crazy over the narrator either.

After reading the author's book The Mountains Wild, I eagerly awaited the publication of this book. This is the second book with Detective Maggie D'Arcy. The investigation leads from Long Island to Ireland and back. This story has a lot of layers that are gradually revealed through the investigation and Maggie's love interest. I highly recommend this book with much to care about and a mystery to be solved.

I listened to this book on Audio which I received as an advance copy for my unbiased review. The narration was excellent, also.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* havent read the first in the series but now i want to, pretty good thriller

Murder, mystery and a deep dive into how these cases can affect the person working it. As she is still recovering from a case she had previously worked on she is now thrown another that is so similar and demanding. Filled with suspense and mystery

This was a well-paced and thrilling mystery. This can be read as a stand alone, but reading the first book in the series will give you more backstory for the main characters. The narrator was good.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

The uninspired and angst ridden narration by Marisa Calvin made this book a very painful experience. If this had not been an ARC Audio, I would have DNFed it, but when I take an ARC I do everything in my power to finish and review the work. This book is definitely not my cup of tea. The angst level is off the charts and that is just about the worst thing a book can have, as far as I am concerned. If the first 80% of this book were as good as the last 20%, it would be a great book. The plot is intriguing, but not enough to overcome the deficiencies of the execution.

When Maggie D'arcy, a Long Island homicide detective, catches a case less than a week before he is scheduled for a trip to Ireland she is concerned that she can't wrap the case before she leaves. As the case unfolds, the victim turns out to be an Irish national and the circumstances are most unusual. So, off to Ireland Maggie and her daughter, Lily, go and what Maggie uncovers there makes the trip more than worth it, even if she has to split her focus between the the case and her boyfriend.

There are several layers to Gabriel Tracey and peeling them away is the only way Maggie is going to find the killer. The trail leads Maggie to a small village in County Clare and the secrets that a killer will do anything to keep hidden. When Maggie is ordered to return she knows that this case is not a simple mugging or a gang initiation.
3 1/2-Stars

Overall the book was really interesting. It deals with a cross country murder. And a detective who is starting to question her ideas of what the future for her family will look like. So there are two strong themes. The ending is very surprising and that makes the story really good. I strongly recommend this title

This book was a sequel to a previous book (which I had not read), but it was easy enough to follow on its own merit. The main character, Maggie, is a police detective on Long Island who is investigating the murder of a British tourist in a nearby park. She has a boyfriend in Ireland, and also has friends in the guarda there who help with her investigation. There are struggles with the relationship, with her teenage daughter, and especially with the DA who does not like her. Lots of action in this story, but I'd say it was just average.

I missed the first book in this series and felt I was missing something at times but that was okay. Maggie is a detective raising her teenage daughter and her newest case is of an Irish national who is murdered on a beach on Long Island. What was he doing there? So many questions and just when she is scheduled for a holiday in Ireland so she and her daughter, Lillie, take off for Ireland and Maggie ends up working on her holiday until she is called back home. The clues start to point too close to home or really to work. Will anyone come out of this unscathed?

Maggie has been called into a case. A murder has occurred and the victim is an Irish national. Maggie and her daughter are supposed to leave for Ireland for vacation. So, Maggie decides to do a little investigation while she is there. But this murder turns into more than she bargained for.

Ok…I really struggled with this read. I try hard not to write bad reviews. But this book just did not cut it. The story moved slowly but I believe most of the problem is with the narrator, Marisa Calin. She is very breathy, overly dramatic and her accents were atrocious. There were times I actually rolled my eyes.

The only thing that kept me listening was the mystery. But to be honest…I only vaguely cared about that.

Please forgive the bad review…I just hate to write them. The author spent a lot of time on this book and this is just one person’s opinion.

I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest opinion

4.5 Stars
The story opens with Maggie dealing with some of the repercussions from the last story, and it’s not good. There seems to be a DA gunning for her, hampering her efforts to bring “someone” to justice. I’m being vague because of spoilers for the last book.

Maggie’s about to leave on vacation with Lilly, her fifteen-year-old daughter, and meet up with Conor back in Ireland when a man is found murdered on a beach in Long Island. When it’s discovered that he’s from Ireland, Maggie’s vacation turns into a bit of a work assignment. Why the man was in Long Island and who killed him? The connections are surprising and twisty!

There’s a lot going on, from the murder to Maggie’s problems with the DA, her issues with Lilly and her continuing relationship with Conor. I was fully invested in this “page turning” mystery and I didn’t want to stop listening so I could get to the bottom of so many things!

Ms. Stewart’s writing was beautiful, breathing life into her characters making it easy to relate and root for Maggie, Connor, Lilly and even Gabriel. The settings were vividly described, giving the story an eerie and atmospheric feel! I could almost feel the biting cold of Long Islands shores and see the rugged beauty of County Clare while listening.

A Silent Grave is a pleasing mix of police procedural/mystery/thriller and Maggie’s personal life. It’s a series best read in order. Even though the previous main mystery is solved, there are quite a few plot points unresolved and continued in A Silent Grave. Also, the romance started in the first book is ongoing and like most real-life relationships it’s not all smooth sailing. I’m 100% rooting for them! I believe they’re a couple that can go the distance. I’m happy with how things are left at this point.

I think there will be more Maggie D’arcy mysteries coming, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

I listened to the audio version of The Mountains Wild and A Silent Grave with Marisa Calin narrating. I was impressed with her expertly performed Long Island and Irish accents! She switched back and forth effortlessly and they sounded authentic to me. I listened at 1.25x the normal speed.

A Distant Grave was a compelling story with a fantastic cast of characters. Maggie D'arcy is a Long Island homicide detective with close ties to Ireland. When a body is found on the beach in her jurisdiction, a whirlwind of a case begins. What, on the surface, was a simple robbery/murder becomes a case of international intrigue spanning the United States, Ireland, and Afghanistan.
Maggie has to use all of her investigative skills and contacts both at home and in Ireland to solve the mystery and make sure she and her family aren't the killer's next victims.
A Distant Grave was the first book I read by Sarah Stewart Taylor, but it definitely won't be the last!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately I did not realize that this was book 2 in a series and I think I would’ve benefited from reading book 1. Maybe I would’ve had more invested in the characters and the story arc. As it was I felt like I was missing quite a bit every time the story tried to give us background. It didn’t come off natural and then it became a tad irritating causing me to just wish I had read book 1.

As for the narrator I have to say that she did not help. Her voice was sometimes good and at other times it grated on my nerves. The lack of consistency was not good. Throw in the cadence in which she told the story and I actually found myself cringing. I could not stand it.

This is definitely not a story I’d recommend to someone in audiobook format. Much better to just read it.

A Distant Grave is a chunky, complex mystery set in Long Island and Ireland.

This book is the second in the Maggie D'arcy crime fiction series. Maggie's latest investigation focuses on a man who was shot and killed while visiting the United States from Ireland. Coincidentally, her boyfriend Conor lives in Ireland and she's had a vacation planned to visit him (in part, to figure out what they're going to do long term now that they've fallen in love, given that they each have a child with roots in their home countries).

The real selling point for A Distant Grave is the plot of the investigation -- seasoned thriller/suspense readers and those newer to the genre both will find a lot to like in how the mystery unfolds.

At the same time, I could have done without a fair amount of the material on Maggie's romantic relationship (please forgive me, but I just don't care what Conor thinks or how he's disappointed). I think I'd have enjoyed this one more had that been edited down a bit, and the book itself been closer to 350 pages in length. (The pacing felt stronger when Conor's presence was limited!)

I alternated between the text and audio; if I had to recommend just one, I'd suggest the text. I liked the narration (and was grateful to have it) but the narrator's accents were sometimes difficult for me to understand. (I'd miss a word or two, even after rewinding and listening to a sentence a second time, and end up looking that part up in the text.) This may have been a consequence of listening at 1.75/2x (I typically don't listen to books more slowly than 2x after a chapter or two of settling in, but did find myself trying a slower speed for segments of this book). It felt like the narrator really leaned into the accents (so you might love the audio if that's your thing, might want to opt for the text if it's not).

The publisher says the series is a fit for "fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson;" I'd add Mare of Easttown to that (though this book isn't nearly as sad as that limited series!).